The UK government has promised new legislation on the use of facial recognition in public areas, with stronger safeguards to ensure it is used in a proportionate way. The commitment came from Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones in a parliamentary response, who confirmed that these rules and safeguards will be integrated into the upcoming Police Reform Bill.
A government consultation indicated general public support for the technology, provided there are clear reassurances regarding its boundaries.
Industry reaction to the announcement
Tony Kounnis, CEO of Face Int UK, welcomed the move but said it falls short of where policy needs to go. He noted that facial recognition technology has become far more widely used over the past two years, not just in policing, but also for security and access controls by businesses, and to unlock personal devices and applications.
Kounnis said regulation has lagged well behind, and not enough has been done to recognise and respond to people's concerns about the privacy and protection of their biometric data.
Concerns over data protection
He added that there are many people in the UK who are worried about how images of their face are captured and stored. The policing minister's promise to introduce stronger safeguards is a step in the right direction, but it still falls short of where policy needs to go.
Kounnis called for more robust rules to ensure companies developing and deploying facial recognition technology are doing enough to protect data, saying that privacy by design must be the mantra, and the Government cannot dawdle in tackling this issue.
